Last



J. D. ADAMS April 13, 1937.

LASI

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 5', 1936 \\n i A HL.

April 13, 1937. ADAMS 2,076,931

LAST

Filed May 5, 1956 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LASTJames D. Adams,

White Plains, N.

Application May 5, 1936,, Serial. No. 77,929

9 Claims.

My invention relates to sectional boot and shoe lasts of that type whichcomprise a fore part section, a heel sectionv and an intermediatesection, and which include means for locking said sections in operativerelationship while the last is in use, said means being operable tounlock the sections so that the latter can be adjusted rel atively inorder to permit removal of the last from the boot or shoe.

Heretofore, lasts of the character referred to have commonly beenconstructed with the three parts thereof permanently. connected togetherin such manner that the heel section could be removed from the shoe onlyby a lifting move- 5 ment thereof relatively to the other parts of thelast and to the shoe after adjustment of the intermediate section toshorten the last, and could not be turned about and around or otherwisemanipulated as withdrawn to avoid injuriously stretching the top or neckof the upper which in many types of womens shoes is always smaller thanthe lower portion of the shoe near the sole.

That is to say, the top of the upper made constricted so that it Willfit the ankle with the desired snugness and in removing lasts asheretofore constructed it was necessary to force the heel sectionthrough this constricted opening at the top of the upper with the resultthat the latter was stretched and enlarged to an undesirable andinjurious extent.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a sectional lastof the class described which will be strong and rigid while in usewithin a shoe and which may be collapsed and manipulated when removingthe same so as to avoid stretching the top or neck of the upper.

To these ends I have provided an improved sectional last having theconstruction and mode of operation set forth in the followingdescription,

the several novel features of the invention being separately pointed outand defined in the claims at the close thereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a sectional lastconstructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the last shown on Fig. 1.

50 Figure 3 is an elevation of the front end of the heel section of thelast shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the rear end of the intermediate section ofthe last shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the front end of the .55 intermediatesection.

Figure 6 is an elevation of the rear end of the fore part section of thelast shown in Fig. 1.

Figure '7 is a sectional detail illustrating the construction of thespring latches hereinafter referred to. 5

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a tool for use in operating the spring latches.

Figure 10 is a side elevation partly in section, of a last embodyinganother form of this invention.

Figure 11 is a plan view of the last shown in Fig. 10.

, Figure 12 illustrates a tool for usein operating the spring latches ofthe last shown in Figs. 10 and 11. 15

The embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to '7, inclusive,is a sectional boot or shoe last comprising a fore part section III, anintermediate section II and a heel section I2.

The intermediate section I I is preferably wedge shaped as viewed fromthe side, or in longitudinal 20 section as in Fig. 1, being longer atitstop than at its bottom, and its front end is formed near its treadwith a downwardly facing transverse shoulder or ledge I3 extending fromside to side i thereof, as shown in Fig. 4, while its rear end is alsoformed with a downwardly facing transverse shoulder or ledge I4extending from side to side thereof as shown in Fig. 5.

Above the shoulder I3 the front end of the intermediate section I I ismade with a fiat surface I5, Fig. 5, and below said shoulder with a fiatsurface I6. Above the shoulder I4 the rear end of the intermediatesection is made with a fiat surface I'l, Fig. 4, and below said shoulderwith 30 a flat surface I8.

The shape of the rear end of the forepart section It! is a counterpartof the shape of the front end of the intermediate section, being formednear its tread with an upwardly facing transverse shoulder I9, Fig. 1,opposed to the shoulder I3 of the section I I, while the shape of theforward end of heel section I2 is a counterpart of the shape of the rearend of section II, being formed v with an upwardly facingshoulder 20opposed to the shoulder I4 of section II.

To the shoulders I9 and 20 are cemented or otherwise secured layers 2Iand 22 respectively of resilient sheet material such as rubber, to serveas cushions when the last is subjected to blows applied to the treadportions of the heel and fore part sections.

The heel section I2 is rigidly and separately locked to the intermediatesection I I by a pair of longitudinally disposed bolts 23 while the forepart section is similarly locked to the intermediate section II by apair of longitudinally disposed bolts 24. Each of these four bolts ispart of a well known type of spring latch mechanism illustrated in Fig.7 and as there illustrated is slidably mounted within a tubular socketor housing 25 that is driven into a hole bored in its last section. Theinner end of each bolt 23 and 24 is made with a stem extending looselythrough an aperture formed through the inner end wall of the housing andprovided at its extremity with a head 26 that is normally held againstsaid end wall by a coiled spring 21 within the housing and actingagainst the bolt to yieldingly hold the lat-.

ter projected from its last section.

When the last is in its assembled condition the outer end portions ofthe bolts 23 occupy metal lined sockets 28 formed in the intermediatesection Ii while the outer end portions of the bolts 24 occupy metallined sockets 29 provided in said section II.

As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 6 the axes of the bolts 23 are obliquelydisposed relatively to the plane of the shoulder 20 while the axes ofbolts 24 are similarly disposed relatively to the plane of the shoulderl9 so that the distance between the tip of each bolt and the shoulder ofits section is less than the distance between the mouth of the socketwithin which it is mounted and said shelf. It will therefore be clearthat each pair of bolts co-acts with its shoulder to lock its section tothe intermediate section I I.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2 the bolts 23 and also the bolts 24project convergingly from their last sections which gives additionalholding function thereto.

The last is assembled by merely pressing the sections thereof togetherend to end, the bolts 23 and 24 yielding inwardly until the sections arefully fitted together whereupon the springs 21 project the boltsoutwardly into their sockets 28.

At their inner ends the sockets 28 communicate with a well 30 extendingdownwardly from the top of the intermediate section II part way throughthe latter and when it is desired to disassemble the sections of thelast the pronged ends of the tool 3|, Figs. 8 and 9, are inserted withinthe well with the prongs 32 thereof entered within one of the pairs ofsockets. Then by forcing the ends of the tool lengthwise of the socketsthe prongs will force the two bolts out of said sockets thusdisconnecting the two sections of the last.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 onlytwo bolts 23 and 24 are employed and these are disposed with their axesdisposed approximately coincident with the medial plane 33, Fig. 11, andobliquely with respect to the shoulders l9 and 20 of sections l0 and I2.To disconnect the last sections the tool 34 shown in Fig. 12 isemployed.

Both tools 3| and 34 may be formed from steel wire.

It will be apparent from Figs. 3 and 4 that the top of the upper, whichis fitted snugly to the sides of the heel part of the last, is very muchnarrower than the bottom portion of the shoe and consequently even whenthe intermediate part of a last, constructed as heretofore, is unlockedand adjusted upwardly to permit the heel part to be moved forward intothe waist of the shoe, said heel part can only swing upwardly on a fixedpath parallel with the vertical median plane 33, Fig. 11, with theresult that the wider tread or lower portion of said heel part willsubject the constricted neck portion of the upper to objectionable andinjurious stretching action. This deformation and stretching of theupper while removing the last has heretofore resulted in the frequentreturn of shoes to the manufacturer.

In removing my last from a finished shoe the intermediate section isfirst completely disconnected from the other two sections and removed.Then the heel section is moved forwardly into the waist portion of theshoe where it can be turned on a longitudinal axisin a left handdirection in Fig. 3-and removed more or less sidewise Without stretchingor deforming the constricted neck of the upper.

The rear end of the forepart Ill is made with a socket Ina, into whichthe prong or prongs of a tool such as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, or Fig.12, may be inserted and used to pull the 'forepart rearwardly forremoval after removal of the other two sections of the last.

In addition to serving as cushions the rubber layers are more or lesscompressed when the last is assembled and serve as springs to hold theintermediate section tightly against the lower sides of the bolts 23 and24.

With the above described construction it is possible to provideinterchangeable heel parts of different types or designs and to selectand use the heel part of the desired design. For example heel parts maybe provided of different width including wide, narrow and medium.

Another advantage to the above described construction is that it isparticularly adapted to be employed in connection with lasts fordeformed feet which, as heretofore constructed, were difficult to removefrom the finished shoe. By constructing such lasts in accordance withthis invention they may be easily and quickly removed.

What I claim is:

1. A last divided transversely to provide a fore part section, anintermediate section and a heel section, and locking devices permanentlymounted on said last separably and rigidly locking said sectionstogether in assembled relationship independently of the shoe withinwhich the last is used, said locking devices being operable todisconnect said sections while the last is within said shoe so that thesections of the last can be separately removed therefrom withoutstretching the neck of the upper of the shoe.

2. A last comprising three sections including a fore part section havinga rear end face whose lower portion is stepped to provide a transverseabutment shoulder, an intermediate section having a front end face whoselower portion is stepped to provide a transverse abutment shoulder toseat against the shoulder of the fore part section and having a rear endface whose lower portion is also stepped to provide a transverseabutment shoulder, and a heel section having a front end face whoselower portion is stepped to provide a transverse abutment shoulder toseat against the shoulder of the rear end face of the intermediatesection, and locking devices co-acting with said shoulders to separablyand rigidly lock said sections together in assembled relationshipindependently of the shoe within which the last is used, said lockingdevices being operable to disconnect said sections While the last iswithin a shoe so that said sections can be separately removed therefrom.

3. A last comprising three sections including a fore part section havingits rear end made adj acent to its tread with an upwardly facingtransverse abutment shoulder, an intermediate section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with a downwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder of the fore part sectionand having its rear end made adjacent to its tread with a downwardlyfacing transverse abutment shoulder, and a heel section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with an upwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder on the rear end of theintermediate section, and locking devices co-acting with said shouldersto separably and rigidly lock said sections together in assembledrelationship independently of the shoe within which the last is used,said locking devices being disposed between said shoulders and the topof the last and being operable to disconnect said sections while thelast is within a shoe so that said sections can be separately removedtherefrom.

4. A last comprising three sections including a fore part section havingits rear end made adj acent to its tread with an upwardly facingtransverse abutment shoulder, an intermediate section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with a downwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder of the fore part sectionand having its rear end made adjacent to its tread with a downwardlyfacing transverse abutment shoulder, and a heel section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with an upwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder on the rear end of theintermediate section and locking devices disposed between said shouldersand the top of the last co-acting with said shoulders to separably andrigidly lock said sections together in assembled relationshipindependently of the shoe within which the last is used, comprising alongitudinally disposed spring pressed latch bolt mounted to moveendwise within a socket formed in the rear end of the fore part sectionand projecting into a socket formed in the front end of the intermediatesection and a longitudinally disposed spring pressed latch bolt mountedto move endwise within a socket formed in the front end of the heelsection and projecting into a socket formed in the rear end of theintermediate section and said bolts being manually retractible todisconnect said sections while the last is within a shoe so that saidsections can be separately and individually removed therefrom.

5. A last constructed in accordance with claim 4 and wherein saidintermediate section is made with a well extending downwardly from thetop of said section and having its inner end disposed between andcommunicating with the inner ends of the sockets of said intermediatesection.

6. A last constructed in accordance with claim 4 and wherein the axis ofeach spring pressed latch bolt is obliquely inclined relatively to theplane of the abutment shoulder of its section so as to co-act therewithto hold its section and the intermediate section against movement awayfrom each other. I

7. A last constructed in accordance with claim 4 and wherein a layer ofresilient sheet material is provided between the abutment shoulders ofeach pair of shoulders and is fixed in position on one of the latter.

8. A last comprising three sections including'a fore part section havingits rear end made adjacent to its tread with an upwardly facingtransverse abutment shoulder, an intermediate section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with a downwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder of the fore part sectionand having its rear end made adjacent tov its tread with a downwardlyfacing transverse abutment shoulder, and a heel section having its frontend made adjacent to its tread with an upwardly facing transverseabutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder on the rear end of theintermediate section, and locking devices disposed between saidshoulders and the top of the last co-acting with said shoulders toseparably and rigidly lock said sections together in assembledrelationship independently of the shoe within which the last is used,said devices comprising a pair of longitudinally disposed spring pressedlatch bolts mounted to move endwise within sockets formed in the rearend of the fore part section and projecting therefrom convergingly intosockets formed in the front end of the intermediate section and. a pairof longitudinally disposed spring pressed latch bolts mounted to moveendwise within sockets formed in the front end of the heel section andprojecting therefrom convergingly into sockets formed in the rear end ofthe intermediate section, and said bolts being manually retractible todisconnect said sections while the last is within a shoe so that saidsections can be separably and individually removed therefrom.

9. In a last comprising three sections including an intermediatesection, a heel section abutting the rear end of the intermediatesection and a fore part section abutting the front end of theintermediate section, the intermediate section having one end thereofmade adjacent to its tread with a downwardly facing transverse abutmentshoulder and also made with a longitudinal socket disposed between saidshoulder and the top of said section, and one of the abutting sectionshaving its abutting end made adjacent to its tread with a transverseupwardly facing abutment shoulder to fit against the shoulder on saidintermediate section and also made with a socket for a latch bolt theouter end of which socket registers with the outer end of the socket inthe intermediate section when the two. sections occupy abuttingrelationship, and a longitudinally and obliquely disposed springpressedlatch bolt permanently mounted to move endwise within one of saidsockets and automatically engageable with the other socket when the twosections are brought together in assembled relationship therebypositively to lock the two sections against separating movementrelatively.

JAMES D. ADAMS.

